352 NEW-YORK FAUNA — BIRDS. 



HUTCHINS'S GOOSE. 



ANSER HtJTCHINSI. 



Aiiser Imlcirinsi. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 470. Auddbon, Om. Biog. Vol. 3, p. 52G. Notta'h,, Man. 

 Orn. Vol. 2, p. 362. Aububon, B. of Am. Vol. 6, p. 198, pi. 377. Giraud, Birds of Long 

 island, p. 292. Linsley, B. of Conn. 



Characteristics. Bill black, 1"5 in length. Head and neck deep black. A white kidney- 

 shaped patch on the throat. Length, 26*0. 



Description. Bill short, and very high at the base. Tail short, rounded, of sixteen 

 feathers (" 14," Richardson). 



Color. Adult: Bill, feet and claws black. Head and upper two-thirds- of the neck glossy 

 black : a large subtriangular patch of white on each side of the head and neck. General color 

 above brownish grey ; the feathers edged with paler. Abdomen and lower tail-coverts white. 

 Quills and tail-feathers deep brown. 



Length, 25-0 -27-0. 



This species is usually taken for a dwarf variety of the Wild Goose, and was at first sup- 

 posed by Dr. Richardson to be a variety of the Brant. It breeds along the shores of the 

 Arctic sea. At some seasons, according to Mr. Giraud, it is quite abundant on the shores of 

 Massachusetts, and has been shot in the Chesapeake. According to the same authority, it is 

 not uncommon on the eastern part of Long island, in company with the Wild Goose, and is 

 known under the name of Mud Goose. Mr. Linsley, in his Catalogue of the Birds of Con- 

 necticut, states that " it is not unfrequently taken there in the spring, and is called the 

 Southern Goose, because it does not winter there." Some have supposed it to be the hybrid 

 of the Brant and Wild, Goose. It has been observed by Mr. Townsend on the Northwest 

 coast. 



(EXTRA-LIMITAL.) 



A. leucopsis, Bechstein. (Aud. B. of A. Vol. 6, p. 200, pi. 378.) Barnacle Goose. Dark ash: 

 neck, upper part of the breast, and tail bluish black: face and beneath white; bill and feet black. 

 Length, 23-0-27'0. Northern regions. 



A. cinereus, Meyer. Common Goose. Light ash; beneath whitish; rump ash. Bill stout, orange; 

 nail whitish. Introduced from Europe, and domesticated. 



